Herb Roasted Turkey Breast

 

One week from today it will be Thanksgiving.  I know that Thanksgiving will have been already celebrated in Canada, but it is impossible for me to get a turkey in October at a reasonable price. 

 

Since moving over here to the UK, I choose to celebrate it in November.  For me it helps to usher in the Christmas Holiday Season!  I love it.

 

As I have a food blog, and I want things to be current on it, I do cook my Thanksgiving dinner about a week early, which is okay. That means that I am in the mood for turkey again come Christmas time.  

 

I cannot imagine a Christmas without turkey.  That is both the Brit and the Canuck in me!  Christmas when I was growing up was always a turkey dinner, and here in the UK, people love to enjoy a turkey dinner for Christmas as well. I know in America it is usually a roast of beef or something else.

 

Whether you are celebrating Thanksgiving a week from today, or Christmas in a few weeks after that I am sure you will find this amazing Herb Roasted Turkey Breast to be a really winning combination of flavours. 

This is the way I have always done my turkey crowns/breasts. It is fail proof and delicious.

 

I was able to get a lovely bone in, skin on turkey breast at Costco. I have to say up front it was not cheap. 

 

I felt it was well worth  the cost however because this is a solid piece of meat with very little waste. there is not a lot of bone.  Turkey legs are full of bone and sinew. I wonder now what was the great appeal when I was a child.

Two drumsticks, three children. You can imagine.

 

The skin is rubbed with some soft butter and fresh herbs prior to baking. This results in a beautifully moist and well flavoured turkey breast.  

 

Because there are no leg or thigh bits to worry about, it is done a bit sooner than a whole turkey would be. This is a bonus.

 

Thighs and legs take longer to cook. This means that you run the risk of drying out the breast meat.  

 

If you really must have legs and thighs, it is my recommendation that you cook them separately, and put them in sooner.

 

The turkey breast roasts on a "trivet" of chopped raw vegetables and herb sprigs.  Both help to lend a beautiful flavour to both the meat and the gravy.  

 

I had some lemon balm in my garden and added a spring of that to the mix. Its not absolutely necessary.

 

It does give a lovely light lemon flavour however, and beautiful fragrance.  Lemon Thyme would do almost the same thing if you have it. 

There is something about the flavour of lemon and poultry combined that is truly unbeatable.

 

The gravy is a very simple make. Just strain the juices from the pan once the turkey is cooked and then add some water.  

 

Shake together some water and flour in a jar and add it to the juices and simmer until thick and bubbling.

 

As you can see the turkey is really moist and delicious. That gravy  is simply gorgeous.

 

Can you tell how in love I am with this?  I hope so because I truly am.  This has to be one of my favourite meals.

  

Altogether this makes for a fabulous turkey entree that is not only very nice to look at, but also delicious. It takes very little effort to pull this meal together.

 

This helps to give you plenty of energy to focus on the side dishes.  More about those tomorrow!

Yield: 6 (with plenty of leftovers)

Author: Marie Rayner

Herb Roasted Turkey Breast

This is an amazingly tender, moist and delicious turkey breast, well flavoured with fresh herbs.  The gravy from the pan drippings is wonderfully delicious!

ingredients:

• 1 (3 KG/6 pound) skin on Turkey breast on the bone
• 3 TBS butter at room temperature
• 2 TBS chopped fresh herbs (I used rosemary, sage and thyme)
• fine sea salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 stalks celery, trimmed and chopped
• 2 small carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
• fresh springs of herbs (rosemary, thyme, lemon balm)

For the gravy:

• juices from the pan plus water to equal 500ml (2 1/2 cups)
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• 3 TBS flour
• 120ml cold water (1/2 cup)
• salt and black pepper to taste

instructions:

How to cook Herb Roasted Turkey Breast

1. Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/gas mark 4.   Place the chopped vegetables and a few sprigs of thyme, rosemary and lemon balm in the bottom of a large deep roasting tin.
2. Remove your turkey from the packaging and place it, top side up, on top of the vegetables in the pan.  Rub all over with the soft butter. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle the chopped herbs over all.  Cover lightly with aluminium foil and place into the preheated oven.
3. Roast for about 2 hours.  Remove the foil, baste with any pan juices and roast for a further half an hour. Test to see if it is done. The temperature in the thickest part of the breast should read 74*C/165*F, and the juices should run clear.  If it is not quite done, return to the oven and cook for a bit longer until it is.
4. Remove from the oven.  Transfer the turkey breast to a heat resistant cutting board (preferably with a recess built all around to catch any juices)  Tent loosely with foil and allow to rest while you make the gravy.
5. Strain the juices from the roasting tin into a saucepan. Skim off any fat that you can.  Add water to make the amount of liquid up to 500ml, or 2 1/2 cups.   Crumble in the bouillon cube. Shake together  the flour and cold water in a jar.  Strain through a sieve into the turkey juices/water mixture.  Bring to the boil, whisking constantly.  It should bubble and thicken.  Reduce to a low simmer and cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes to cook out any flour taste.  Season to taste with salt and black pepper as desired.
6. Pass at the table with the carved turkey.

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We both really enjoyed this tasty turkey breast.  I really hope that you will be enticed to give it a go.  I don't think you will regret it if you do.  Either for Thanksgiving or for Christmas, I think you will agree that this method of roasting a turkey breast spells winner/ winner! 

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